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Developments in techniques for the isolation, enrichment, main culture conditions and identification of spermatogonial stem cells

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Abstract

The in vitro culture system of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) provides a basis for studies on spermatogenesis, and also contributes to the development of new methods for the preservation of livestock and animal genetic modification. In vitro culture systems have mainly been established for mouse SSCs, but are lacking for farm animals. We reviewed and analyzed the current progress in SSC techniques such as isolation, purification, cultivation and identification. Based on the published studies, we concluded that two-step enzyme digestion and magnetic-activated cell sorting are fast becoming the main methods for isolation and enrichment of SSCs. With regard to the culture systems, serum and feeders were earlier thought to play an important role in the self-renewal and proliferation of SSCs, but serum- and feeder-free culture systems as a means of overcoming the limitations of SSC differentiation in long-term SSC culture are being explored. However, there is still a need to establish more efficient and ideal culture systems that can also be used for SSC culture in larger mammals. Although the lack of SSC-specific surface markers has seriously affected the efficiency of purification and identification, the transgenic study is helpful for our identification of SSCs. Therefore, future studies on SSC techniques should focus on improving serum- and feeder-free culture techniques, and discovering and identifying specific surface markers of SSCs, which will provide new ideas for the optimization of SSC culture systems for mice and promote related studies in farm animals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Science and Technology Support Program of China (No. 2011BAD19B02), the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) (cxgc-ias-06) and Beijing Innovation Team of Technology System in Dairy Industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory for Farm Animal Genetic Resources and Utilization of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China

    Yanan He, Xiaoli Chen, Huabin Zhu & Dong Wang

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  1. Yanan He
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  2. Xiaoli Chen
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  3. Huabin Zhu
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  4. Dong Wang
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Correspondence to Dong Wang.

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He, Y., Chen, X., Zhu, H. et al. Developments in techniques for the isolation, enrichment, main culture conditions and identification of spermatogonial stem cells. Cytotechnology 67, 921–930 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-015-9850-4

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